About the Book

It’s Christmas in March!

The scents of Christmas invite our imaginations into the holiday season. What emotions flood your heart when the holiday aromas waft your way?

Did you know:

Many favorite holiday scents like cinnamon, citrus, and cinnamon are found in the Bible?

There is a rich heart connection attached to many of the plant essences found in Scripture?

Myrrh is such an important essence, we can follow its trail from Genesis to Revelation with many significant stops along the way?

Women of the Bible have personal encounters with God bringing aromas of His love and joy into their lives?

Palm branches are an important part of Biblical celebrations beginning in Genesis and ending in the ultimate beach party around the Crystal Sea? (Christmas at the beach, anyone?)

In The Essence of Joy you’ll meet women of the Bible and contemporary women like you and me who will encourage you to discover the refreshing essence of a life lived in the presence of Jesus. Let JOY fill your heart with the aromas of His nativity.

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This inspirational collection is nothing like what I’ve ever read before. Each chapter integrates fictional characters and a fictional story based on true stories with a fruit or aroma of the Christmas season and its associated essence of joy (ie rose is the joy of love, mint is the joy of giving, citron is the joy of legacy), Scripture from the Old and New Testament centered around that specific fruit/aroma along with thoughts for a devotional, another devotional featuring a woman of the Bible who has had some type of experience with the essence associated with that fruit/aroma, fun facts regarding each fruit/aroma, and practical ways to incorporate the essence and fruit/aroma into daily life.

It is an interesting blend of fiction, Scripture, Biblical teaching, devotional, and how-to instructions. I’ll definitely be coming back to this book to let the words sink in deeper. I think I’ll learn a little more about His joy every time. As the author quotes at the beginning of the book from a Gaelic Prayer: “As the hand is made for holding and the eye for seeing, You have fashioned me for joy.”

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit stout. I was not required to to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Lynn Watson combines many years’ experience in women’s ministry, love of essential oils, and her passion for God’s word to bring her readers freshly inspired encouragement for their walk with Jesus. Her devotional, The Essence of Courage, was recognized as a ‘must read’ by regional publishing industry leaders. Married since 1973, Lynn and Steve have filled their Bartlett, Tennessee home with handmade treasures and lots of love for family, especially their five beautiful (of course) grandchildren. Aromas of freshly baked bread often fill Lynn’s kitchen. Jasmine, her tuxedo kitty, enjoys sleeping in Lynn’s lap while she writes.

Guest Post from Lynn Watson

A walk down memory lane on a snowy day (today) transported my thoughts to a Christmas shop our children and I visited every year. Open only for the holiday season, rich aromas reached out and drew you into this wonderland. The owners filled the space with unique treasures. A few we chose years ago remain prized member of my Christmas favorites close to four decades later.

My debut encounter with essential oils came many years later. I loved their aromas (including many of those Christmas scents) and studied their aromatic influences and potential benefits. Bible verses jumped to life in new ways. God created all plants and inspired the Biblical authors to include many. The desire to share my discoveries burned in my heart, until God finally released me to publish The Essence of Courage in December 2016. Before I completed the devotional based on Solomon’s locked garden in Song of Solomon 4:12-15, God reminded me just how many aromas and tastes of the Christmas season are found in the pages of His word, too.

Cinnamon, cedarwood, mint, citrus, myrrh, frankincense, rose, and figs are found in the pages of Scripture. So, are palms. They may not appear Christmasy unless you favor a tropical holiday, but they are an integral part of celebration in the Bible. The Essence of Joy offers discoveries of connections of all this plant life to Jesus’ nativity.

Looking back a dozen years to my first not-quite-inspired imaginings of a devotional book with aromatic offerings, I’m grateful God chose different timing. He presented me an unusual format for the collection. — one of those things easier experienced than explained. Contemporary women’s very real stories (fictionalized and often combined to create anonymity), stories from very real women living on the pages of Scripture, and a focused look at the botanical and its aromas, flavors, and essences as found in the Bible, are topped off with icing on the cake: ‘Fun Facts” and ‘Your Turn’ to invite the reader to more than read – to participate.

In The Essence of Joy you’ll encounter Scriptures in ways you had not considered before. Your faith will be enriched and stretched as you relate to the ancient women of the Bible and those that may be your next door neighbor today. You’ll be encouraged to breathe in the aromas of Jesus’ nativity, sample goodies from The Coffee Cottage’s specials of the day, and tune in to musical selections welcoming you into a posture of worship. I’m praying you are filled with His joy!

NOTE: Cinnamah-Brosia, the owner of The Coffee Cottage in the fictional stories asks readers at the very beginning of the book to be sure to read the introductory material. It helps set the stage for the book’s character and personality.

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Lynn is giving away a grand prize of a “Choose Joy” hand made necklace, a “Cups of Joy” (adult coloring book) + set of 24 prismacolor colored pencils, a “Choose Joy Today” stamped silver-plated teaspoon,
flower Seeds, raspberry tea (it’s in the Cinnamah-Brosia story in the “Mint/Giving” section), a “Choose Joy” tote bag, and a signed copy of “The Essence of Joy”!!

About the Book

Book Title: Someplace Familiar

Author: Teresa Tysinger

Release date: May, 2017

Artist Livy Johnson needs a fresh start. That’s what a broken heart and forgotten dreams can do to a person. On little more than a whim, she reclaims her grandmother’s old home in quaint Laurel Cove, North Carolina and vows to restore its original charm. When she literally collides with childhood friend, Jack Bowdon, Livy wonders if she’s back for an entirely different reason.

Jack can’t believe his childhood crush is back. As the owner of Bowdon’s Supplies, and once again the town’s most eligible bachelor, he offers to help Livy with repairs. Together they embark on the project – and an undeniable whirlwind romance.

But it’s not all smooth sailing. Can they survive the destructive pain of their pasts and discover God’s grace waiting to renovate their hearts?

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

“He said that the love they shared flooded into the deep cracks of his grief like grains of sand. That it didn’t stitch the cracks closed, just filled in the wounds so that they were bearable.”

This is the first book by Teresa Tysinger that I have read and it was enjoyable. The book combined raw emotion, heady romance, good friendships, and memorable characters with a distinct theme of grace, forgiveness, and second chance. Anyone who enjoys a good contemporary romance will enjoy this book.

Jack is a swoon-worthy hero, capable, dependable, and straight-forward. Unfortunately he’s been struggling with his ex-wife and the ugly divorce that occurred after her multiple incidences of adultery. He seems incredibly put-together and in control of his relationship with Livy but his inner turmoils and unresolved anger surface in the middle of the book to make him more real.

Livy is an artist who has been crushed by a controlling and degrading boyfriend. She returns to her grandmother’s cottage and hopes to restart her life at a place that holds love and good memories. Their romance is swift but they both have baggage that needs to be sifted through and the plot focuses mainly on the process of their healing from the brokenness.

Jack’s couple friends are fun additions to the plot and definitely help keep the book moving.

I was given a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Teresa Tysinger is a wife and mother transplanted from North Carolina to North Texas. When not working as the Director of Communications for a large downtown church, she writes charming southern romances inspired by grace. Her debut novel, Someplace Familiar, released this summer. She also is a contributing writer for the Fort Worth Moms Blog (part of the national City Moms Blog Network). A member of American Christian Fiction Writers, Religious Communicators’ Council, and the Association for Women in Communications, Teresa has spent over a decade committed to telling stories of faith through written word. She loves coffee, caramel, and stories with happy endings.

Guest Post from Teresa Tysinger

Someplace Familiar began way back in 2014 when I participated in National Novel Writer’s Month, a challenge to write a 50,000 word novel during the month of November. It was an exhilarating, albeit exhausting, experience! Since then, the book was workshopped with a critique group, had large portions rewritten countless times, pitched at workshops, edited by two editors, and even renamed (original title was Good Graces). After a lot of prayer, I decided that self-publishing would give me the greatest flexibility and control while being able to maintain my responsibilities as a wife, mother, and full-time communications director. It’s been a wonderful ride!

About the Inspiration for Someplace FamiliarOne thing I’ve learned about myself through writing Someplace Familiar is how much I am personally drawn to setting and place. The idea for the book was born out of my desire to introduce readers to the charming small-town life found in the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina where I went to college. Laurel Cove, the fictional town where the story is set, is directly based on my best friend’s hometown of Burnsville, NC. The other source of inspiration comes from my great-grandmother’s tiny bungalow home in West Palm Beach, Florida. Long weekends and summer vacations spent there were full of imagination, adventure, and sweet memories. The scents of her garden, feel of the damp earth beneath my feet, slow pace matching gauzy curtains dancing in the breeze—it all is mirrored in the cottage home of Livy’s Gram in the book. The rest of the story formed around my desire to capture my childhood memories of this home that was so magical and safe for me.

About My Writing Style Here are a few ways I would describe my writing style: Sensory—I aim to provide readers with an experience that enlivens all of their senses. Relatable—It’s my hope that readers see themselves in realistic, flawed characters trying to make their way to discovering grace in a less than perfect world. Charming—Like any good southern fiction, there’s a good dose of charm in these pages.

My prayer is that Someplace Familiar will touch readers with an awareness of God’s grace even during circumstances and within relationships that feel hopeless. Restoration is possible!

Giveaway

To celebrate her tour, Teresa is giving away a grand prize of a gift basket that includes a signed copy of the book, an Original Painting by Author’s Sister (artist Cyndi Browning), and a $10 Amazon Gift Card!!

About the Book

Going through this world in relationship with other people inevitably creates connections in our inner being called soul ties. When these relationships are loving, supportive, and nurturing, positive soul ties are created. But if the relationships become abusive or manipulative, or cause rejection, they can create a toxic brokenness within the soul that we carry with us, even long after the relationship ends. If these toxic inner soul ties are not broken, we will experience failure, fractured relationships, and even health problems throughout life.
In Breaking Toxic Soul Ties, Tom Brown describes his own story of rejection and the process of inner healing he experienced. He helps you to identify and diagnose toxic relationships as he breaks down the difference between positive and negative soul ties. He also shows why toxic soul ties develop and how they can only be broken by a process of inner healing through confession, forgiveness, and prayer. The truth is, unless your self-image is firmly rooted in the truth of your identity in Christ, you will always be susceptible to bad soul ties. Tom Brown describes the way for you to move forward in life and leave pain and brokenness behind for good!

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This was indeed an interesting and eye-opening book. I really liked the way the author described and used the words “soul ties” to explain different relationships we have with others. The author clearly hails from a denomination that I am not very familiar with, yet I did understand and agree with most of his points. There were some speculations in the book that I was not sure I agreed with completely but these were minor and did not affect the major points the author was making.

I have been blessed not to have experienced toxic soul ties with those close to me. This book has increased my awareness for the possible toxic soul ties, but also increased my desire to strengthen and fortify the wonderful soul ties that I do have.

I received a copy of this book from the publisher/author via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Tom Brown is best known for his deliverance ministry. Millions have seen him on ABC’s 20/20, as well as on MSNBC and the History Channel. He is a noted conference speaker, prolific author, and committed pastor. His award-winning Internet site, www.tbm.org, reaches more than a million people a year. His books published by Whitaker House are Devil, Demons, and Spiritual Warfare; Breaking Curses, Experiencing Healing; Prayers That Get Results; and Spiritual Gifts for Spiritual Warfare. Tom is the founder and pastor of Word of Life Church in El Paso, Texas.

About the Book

Love soars to new heights in this Edwardian romance filled with adventure, faith, and inspiration, but how much will it cost Bella and James to follow their dreams?

Isabella Grayson, the eldest daughter of a wealthy, English newspaper magnate, longs to become a journalist, but her parents don’t approve. They want her to marry well and help them gain a higher standing in society. After she writes an anonymous letter to the editor that impresses her father, her parents reluctantly agree she can write a series of articles about aviation and the race to be the first to fly across the English Channel, but only if she promises to accept a marriage proposal within the year. When James Drake, an aspiring aviator, crashes his flying machine at the Grayson’s new estate, Bella is intrigued. James is determined to win that race across the Channel and gain the prize Mr. Grayson’s newspaper is offering. He hopes it will help him secure a government contract to build airplanes and redeem a terrible family secret. James wants to win Bella’s heart, but his background and lack of social standing make it unlikely her parents would approve. If he fails to achieve his dream, how will he win the love and respect he is seeking? Will Bella’s faith and support help him find the strength and courage he needs when unexpected events turn their world upside down?

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

“It’s not easy to forgive someone when what they’ve done has caused a deep wound, but when you do, it benefits you as much, or maybe more, than the person you forgive. It’s like a burden is lifted off your shoulders, and it opens the path for healing and restoration.”

This book is the first book I’ve read written by Carrie Turansky. She’s well-loved by many and I have been meaning to get to some of her books; I’m thrilled that I had the opportunity to read this book and the author now has one more fan in her corner. This historical fiction is well-researched, well-written, completely enthralling and engaging. The author has everything needed for the perfect recipe – a beautifully laid-out plot, wonderful dialogue, memorable and lovable characters, a smidgen of intrigue, and a strong faith component that defines the characters.

In 1909 England, many are inventing and re-inventing the airplane and pilots are eager to cross the English Channel for a prize sum. James is one of the aspiring aviators, born under speculative circumstances and reared by an aviation professor and his sister. He is haunted by his past that he does not know, burdened under the threat of failure but still kind, loving, faithful, and loyal. He is intelligent, innovative, and able to admit his faults even though he’s proud. Bella is the daughter of a newspaper tycoon, always being urged by her mother to make a match with someone titled to elevate their family status but wishes to be a journalist for her father’s newspaper. She is inquisitive, intelligent, tender-hearted, and loving. Bella and James must struggle through deception, disparate society standings, misunderstandings, pain of the past, and disappointments to discover what they really mean to each other.

James and his mentor professor’s faith are incredible examples for us all. Even in the midst of turmoil, disappointment, hurt, and uncertainty, both James and the professor choose to cling to the God who sees all and knows all.

I also learned quite a bit about the beginnings of aviation through this book. Anyone who enjoys historical fiction that is well-written will love reading this book.

I was given a copy of this book by the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Carrie Turansky has loved reading since she first visited the library as a young child and checked out a tall stack of picture books. Her love for writing began when she penned her first novel at age twelve. She is now the award-winning author of nineteen inspirational romance novels and novellas. Carrie and her husband, Scott, who is a pastor, author, and speaker, have been married for more than thirty years and make their home in New Jersey. They often travel together on ministry trips and to visit their five adult children and five grandchildren. Carrie leads women’s ministry at her church, and when she is not writing she enjoys spending time working in her flower gardens and cooking healthy meals for friends and family. She loves to connect with reading friends through her website, Facebook, Pinterest, and Twitter.

Guest Post from Carrie Turansky

Following your Dreams

By Carrie Turansky

In Across the Blue, Bella Grayson and James Drake both go to great lengths to pursue their dreams. Bella longs to become a journalist and write for one of her father’s newspapers, but in 1909 England, aristocratic young women did not work as journalists. A young woman’s path was set by the unwritten rules of society. At eighteen she was presented at court, and then she took part in the London social season and hoped for a marriage proposal from a young man from a wealthy family, with an estate and title. Marriage, having children, and taking part in social and charitable events was the prescribed course for their lives.

But Bella has a different future in mind. She wants to marry for love, and she won’t settle for anything less. She also wants to write articles about the important events of the day that will inform and inspire people. She wants to be a world changer, and that is a very unique role for a woman in England in the Edwardian Era. At that time women didn’t have the right to vote yet and very few pursued any kind of career.

James is an aviation pioneer, and his dream is to build an airplane that will allow him to be the first to fly across the English Channel. This is no easy accomplishment, and he faces many challenges as he pursues his dream. Aviation is brand new. Wilbur Wright demonstrated his airplane in France the year before and stunned Europeans with his skill. With the help of his mentor, Professor Steed, James conducts experiments, refines his design, and makes countless test flights. It takes great courage and determination to overcome setbacks and make it through near fatal crash landings, but James has his heart and mind set on perfecting his airplane and reaching his goal.

What about you? What hopes and dreams do you have for your future? What goals would you like to accomplish? As you think about your dreams and future plans I hope you’ll gain some insight from James and Bella’s experiences in Across the Blue. When they considered the cost of pursuing their dreams they realized their plans and choices impacted others as well as themselves. James and Bella believed striving for their dreams is important, but they learned it must be balanced with commitments to family and friends, and most of all a commitment to following the Lord on the path He has for them.

Following our dreams and working toward accomplishing our goals, especially those the Lord puts on our heart, is important. However, sometimes we may have to put our dreams on hold and wait for the right time and season. We don’t need to be discouraged when this happens. As we listen to the Lord and ask Him to guide and direct us He will show us the right path at the right time to follow it.

Just like James and Bella I hope you’ll pursue your dreams but also hold them with an open hand, allowing the Lord to guide and direct you each step of the way. When you do I’m confident you’ll be headed toward seeing your dreams become reality in His time and in His way. “For I know the plans I have for you declares the Lord; plans to prosper you, not to harm you, plans to give you a hope and a future.” Jeremiah 29:11

With that wonderful promise in mind, I hope you’ll enjoy reading Across the Blue and joining Bella and James as they they pursue their dreams. You’re in for high-flying adventure, romance, and inspiration, and I can’t wait to share this new story with you. Happy reading to you!

About the Book

Title: The Saturday Night Supper Club

Author: Carla Laureano

Genre: Christian fiction/romance fiction

Release Date: February 6, 2018

Denver chef Rachel Bishop has accomplished everything she’s dreamed and some things she never dared hope, like winning a James Beard Award and heading up her own fine-dining restaurant. But when a targeted smear campaign causes her to be pushed out of the business by her partners, she vows to do whatever it takes to get her life back . . . even if that means joining forces with the man who inadvertently set the disaster in motion.

Essayist Alex Kanin never imagined his pointed editorial would go viral. Ironically, his attempt to highlight the pitfalls of online criticism has the opposite effect: it revives his own flagging career by destroying that of a perfect stranger. Plagued by guilt-fueled writer’s block, Alex vows to do whatever he can to repair the damage. He just doesn’t…

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This is Carla Laureano at her finest. Anyone who enjoys contemporary romance will fall in love with this book.

It is incredibly well-written. The premise of the story is fun and innovative, the plot moves at a swift pace, the characters are unforgettable, and the romance is heart-stopping. And the dialogue! It’s peppered with such fun and witty banter, like “You’re such a jerk.”

“I know. My mad psychology skills make me incredibly self-aware.” The conversations between the two main characters are so delightful, real and heartfelt. The thought-processes of Alex and Rachel in the book had me either grinning silly or crying profusely throughout the entire story.

Rachel is a gifted chef, strong yet vulnerable, with a painful past. When she loses her job and her restaurant in one swoop due to accidental social frenzy created by Alex, the two meet and Alex is determined to help Rachel. Alex is a talented writer, struggling to get past his sense of failure and writer’s block. Man, Alex is swoon-worthy, for sure. He’s faith-filled, faithful and loyal with a strong moral compass, patient, loving, thoughtful, kind, creative, wickedly funny, witty, and flirty. He pursues Rachel relentlessly and makes her realize that God sees her much like Alex sees her.

There is a strong thread of God’s Sovereignty and our need for His guidance in all parts of our lives. This faith component is seamlessly tied to Alex’s character and poignantly portrayed.

And the food! And the romance! Both are complex, layered with intensity, sweet and so tender to savor. My stomach, taste buds, and heart twisted, turned over, and tumbled over themselves as the food and romance developed. I thoroughly enjoyed Five Days in Skye with Jaime as the celebrity chef, but the food and romance in this book took it up another notch!

To think there is a second installment to the Supper Club Novels! I cannot wait to read about Melody’s story!

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher and through Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Carla Laureano is the RITA® Award-winning author of contemporary inspirational romance and Celtic fantasy (as C.E. Laureano). A graduate of Pepperdine University, she worked as a sales and marketing executive for nearly a decade before leaving corporate life behind to write fiction full-time. She currently lives in Denver with her husband and two sons, where she writes during the day and cooks things at night.

Guest Post From Carla Laureano

I’ve got a confession to make: I have a cooking problem.

It started early and innocently enough, flipping through my mom’s cookbooks and marking things I wanted to try. Making cakes and muffins from a mix. Flipping frozen steak patties. Doctoring canned spaghetti sauce.

It wasn’t long before I got into the hard stuff: muffins from scratch, slow-cooked marinara, cast-iron seared and oven-finished rib eyes. Over the years, I tried to kick the habit numerous times, but every time things got tough, I found myself falling off the wagon and heading back into the kitchen. Even hosting dinner parties. Yes, dear reader, I pulled my hapless friends into my madness. To my shame, I even got some of them hooked with their own addiction.

Before I knew it, my obsessions started creeping into my day job. No longer was it enough to write contemporary romance about normal people who order take-out. No, I had to write chefs and passionate home cooks and describe the food in the books just as lovingly as I did a first kiss. And then the final straw—a book series centered entirely on food and the culinary profession, beginning with The Saturday Night Supper Club.

All joking aside, cooking really is an addiction that I haven’t been able to kick. As a writer, I spend hours locked in my own imagination, creating things out of words and ideas. And while it’s immensely fulfilling, it’s a long, painstaking process that takes months, even years, before I can release the final product into the world. While there’s a large amount of planning and analysis involved in creating a book, the work is still mostly in my head.

Which is why I find cooking to be such a relaxing creative pursuit. Dicing a pile of vegetables into perfectly uniform cubes may take the same concentration and precision, but it’s concrete and measurable. It becomes a personal challenge to do something better than last time, improving by tiny, nearly imperceptible increments. It’s the closest to meditation that my always-on brain ever experiences, clear of all thought except for my activity at the present moment.

And yet, simultaneously, food is ephemeral. Mistakes last only as long as it takes to eat them or toss them directly into the trash can, depending on the nature of the mistake. If a sauce breaks, I toss it and start over. If I burn something, I either cut off the burned part or I order takeout and try again the next day. There’s an element of experimentation and instinct and whimsy that isn’t hampered by the pursuit of perfection. Let’s face it, a mediocre chocolate chip cookie beats a perfect celery stick any day of the week.

It was natural, then, to write a chef heroine who had dedicated her entire life to the pursuit of culinary perfection and explore all the ways that food makes our lives and relationships richer. How it anchors our memories. How we nurture others by feeding them. How a simple meal becomes meaningful not because of the food, but because of the connections we form with others over the dinner table.

In the end, I guess my cooking problem isn’t that much of a problem after all. If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.

About the Book

Title: Love by the Numbers

Author: Laura V. Hilton

Genre: Christian Amish fiction

Release Date: February 6, 2018

After her fiancé dies in a buggy accident, Lydia Hershberger is invited to Jamesport to manage her Mennonite aunt’s gift store while her aunt and uncle are on a mission trip. While there, Lydia gets acquainted with her aentie’s best friend, Bethel Bontrager, and her grown son, Caleb. Lydia is surprised to find herself drawn to handsome clockmaker, Caleb Bontrager. But in spite of an instant flame of attraction between them, he doesn’t seem interested. In fact, pesky Caleb treats her like he doesn’t even like her.

Bright and sparkly. That’s Caleb’s first impression of Lydia. He’s always been attracted to sparkly things. In fact, his affinity for those things, and the trouble they can cause, are exactly why he’s determined to change his ways and settle down. With Lydia’s aentie gone, he is handling the books for the gift shop and is forced to spend too much time in her presence.

When God offers Lydia a second chance at love and family, will she take it? Or will the secret Caleb harbors cause her even more heartbreak?

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

I need to start out this review with a disclaimer that I don’t read much Amish books. I have been reading more since joining Celebrate Lit Tour but it’s not one of my favorite genres. That being said, this book by Laura V Hilton is a solidly written book. It features Lydia, an absent-minded, beautiful, kind, loving woman from a different Amish community, who comes into Caleb’s community to flee from false accusations and to manage her aunt and uncle’s store while they’re away doing missions. Caleb is a loyal, steadfast, faithful, hard-working, logical Amish man who thinks everything through before acting, yet hides a secret from his past. Though Lydia and Caleb are likable characters, I didn’t connect with them and felt like I was an outsider looking into their relationship instead of being in the midst of it.

Their romance is based on physical attraction first and there is a lot of focus on their attraction throughout the book, which felt somewhat uncomfortable for me. Nothing inappropriate happens, but both Caleb and Lydia spend way too much time thinking about being in each other’s embrace.

There is a wonderful spiritual truth in this book of God’s redemptive and saving grace. He is the God of second-chances and forgiveness. This is made clear in the story via Caleb’s father who is a preacher in their community. The book also touches on how we should be in a community that promotes Biblical understanding and truths as the building blocks of faith instead of people’s thoughts and perceptions being the ruling hand.

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Laura V. Hilton is an award-winning, sought-after author with almost twenty Amish, contemporary, and historical romances. When she’s not writing, she reviews books for her blogs, and writes devotionals for blog posts for Seriously Write and Putting on the New.

Laura and her pastor-husband have five children and a hyper dog named Skye. They currently live in Arkansas. One son is in the U.S. Coast Guard. She is a pastor’s wife, and homeschools her two youngest children.

When she’s not writing, Laura enjoys reading, and visiting lighthouses and waterfalls. Her favorite season is winter, her favorite holiday is Christmas.

Guest Post from Laura V. Hilton

Story Behind the Story – Love by the Numbers

Caleb was a minor character in couple of my Amish books – I think he first made a by name appearance in Amish Wanderer and Christmas Admirer. A minor character. Lydia was a very minor one-time appearance in those stories, too, a girl who happened to be in the room with Bethany and Susanna at a wedding. (This story is stand alone!) But I knew when Caleb first saw Lydia that they would end up together by the way he reacted to her presence. I wondered what their story was.

March and April is tornado season in Arkansas (and in many other states) and in 2011 we had a bad one. I was out and about that day, driving to the county seat with my five children, and there was something in the air. It was heavy, hard to breathe, and the sky was black off to the west. I’m sure I broke speed limits racing to Melbourne, and then home again so we wouldn’t be out in the storm.

Later that afternoon, tornado sirens went off. One went over our house – even from the basement we could hear the sound of a train roaring overhead. Scary. And still thanking God it didn’t touch down. Highland, Ash Flat, and Evening Shade, Arkansas were hit hard. Buildings completely gone. When we drove out that way later in the week there were pickup trucks in the tops of trees. Other things in odd and unusual places. I always wondered how they got the treetop pickups down. I would’ve stopped to watch if I’d been out there when it was done. I did hear that some of those trucks weren’t damaged at all. Unreal. My two sons and my husband both helped with clean up and my oldest son went with a crew to Joplin, Missouri, to help with clean up there.

There has been other occasions I’ve been out in tornados. Once I was in the Walmart parking lot when a tornado went through a town west of it. We could see the funnel touching down from where we stood. It did hail when we were on our way home, praying our house was still standing. It was.

On a different note, in 2016 my oldest son came home with a kitten. She was the sweetest thing ever, and he named her Rosie. Sadly, I was highly allergic to her. I couldn’t even be around the children after they played with her. They’d have to go change clothes and wash their hands, otherwise I couldn’t breathe. Rosie was full Siamese, blue eyes and all, and she was so adorable. I allowed my son to keep her in the shed. I was about four chapters into the story when Rosie found some poison (I think, not sure) and died. We all cried.

Also about the time I was writing this, a very dear friend of a lot of writers died. I told my street team I was going to name a character after her, and was told a lot of writers would be. I agreed. And a lot of their books were released already. But Aenti Judith in this story is named after Judy Burgi. I still miss her and pray for her family.

One of the verses my daughter had to memorize in Sunday School was 2 Corinthians 4:8-9. ‘We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed.’ Perfect for the faith message in Love by the Numbers! I love how God always provides the perfect verse for my characters’ faith messages. I’m pretty sure this verse is one I never memorized, and I never would of thought of it on my own, but God put it in my daughter’s lessons for Sunday School, so she had to memorize it – and thus I did too since I help my daughters learn their verses every week.

About the Book

It’s 1968, and love is in the air in the small coastal town of Cambridge, California.

Donna Peterson, the preacher’s daughter, has her entire life ahead of her and the future looks promising. But things aren’t as they seem in Cambridge. A tangled web of secrets threaten to destroy the lives of each person involved – Donna, her boyfriend Bobby, and Rick, Bobby’s best friend. Will the truth make them free, or will they lose their friendship forever?

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This is the first book by Michelynn Christy and Brandi Gabriel that I have read. It’s an interesting book focusing on grace and forgiveness of God and the grace and forgiveness that the people of Christ can extend. The book deals with some tough issues in the 1960s that are still relevant today. The storyline is intriguing with some well-placed surprises and twists. Though the main characters Donna, Bobby, and Rick are well-meaning, imperfect, real characters, I unfortunately didn’t connect with them. The dialogue felt a bit flat and their thought processes seemed a bit scattered and one-dimensional. I really dislike love triangles so perhaps I was biased while trying to immerse myself in the threesome’s story.

The reminder that God forgives our sins, even the ones we feel are unforgivable because the consequences of the sins have hurt others, is powerful and the struggle the main characters endure to forgive themselves and each other is tangible.

I received a copy of this book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Author

Author Michelynn Christy resides in the Midwest and enjoys creating romantic stories that point to Jesus. Her faith in God shines through the pages of her writing. Michelynn’s debut novelette A Christmas to Remember launched in late 2015. While this pen name and genre are somewhat new to her, she has penned over twenty titles under another pseudonym, has won awards for her works, and has earned best-selling title status. With that said, all glory goes to God!

Brandi Gabriel is co-author of twelve Christian fiction books, including this one. Her first solo novel, The Orphan Bride, released in 2016 and she has since added a sequel in the same series. Her goal in writing is to touch readers’ hearts in some special way and to glorify Jesus Christ, her Lord and Saviour.

Guest Post from Michelynn Christy & Brandi Gabriel

Take a step back in time…

If He Only Knew is a novel set in the late 1960s. The book deals with family relationships, loyalty, friendship, love, and loss. The main topic is somewhat controversial in nature, but we won’t mention what it is lest we spoil the story for readers. A similar book was written in a different genre under another name and the story really resonated with readers. We felt compelled to share this story with others who perhaps wouldn’t pick up that particular genre, and that is how this book came about. It may be set in the sixties, but the message is as relevant today as ever. Our prayer is that God will touch readers’ hearts and draw them closer to Him.

Giveaway

To celebrate their tour, Michelynn and Brandi are giving away the following:

Grand Prize: ONE themed book box, (this will contain small items that relate to the story
1st Place Prize: ONE $25 Amazon gift card,
2nd Place Prize: ONE signed paperback copy of If He Only Knew
3rd Place Prize: ONE signed paperback copy of If He Only Knew!!

A Little About the Book….

A Christian Historical Romance novel. Taking flight from their quiet Pennsylvania town seems like the only way for Tori Boyd to protect her dearest cousin’s virtue. And the success of their escape may now depend on the man she’s been writing letters to for over a year now in the vast wilds of the Wyoming Territory. Ezra Reid has finally stepped out from under the shadow of his older brother and sister, now having full responsibility to man the Rocky Ridge Stage Stop through the winter. The success or failure of the stage and telegraph contracts falls squarely on his shoulders, and he’s entirely focused on the work – at least until his mysterious correspondence partner shows up on his doorstep. As Ezra takes on the search for a proper situation for Tori and her cousin, there seem to be no good options for the ladies. Especially since Tori won’t even discuss the one option that might succeed – marriage. When the danger chasing the women takes on a form none of them anticipated, how far will Ezra have to go to keep the Tori and her cousin safe? It’ll take a lot more than luck to ensure his heart is the sole casualty.

A Little Bit About the Author….

Misty M. Beller writes romantic mountain stories, set on the 1800s frontier and woven with the truth of God’s love. For a limited time, you can get her bestselling novel, The Lady and the Mountain Man, FREE here: http://eepurl.com/bGt1er She was raised on a farm in South Carolina, so her Southern roots run deep. Growing up, her family was close, and they continue to keep that priority today. Her husband and daughters now add another dimension to her life, keeping her both grounded and crazy. God has placed a desire in Misty’s heart to combine her love for Christian fiction and the simpler ranch life, writing historical novels that display God’s abundant love through the twists and turns in the lives of her characters. Writing is a dream come true for Misty. Her family–both immediate and extended–is the foundation that holds her secure in that dream. Learn more at www.MistyMBeller.com.

Guest Review from Mindy Houng….

It is another great read from Misty Beller. This book has her trademark writing style that is easy to follow, a beautifully stark landscape of Wyoming Territory in winter of the late 1860s, a hint of suspense, a tender and sweet romance, lovable but imperfect characters, a good-paced plot, and a natural, believable faith thread that introduces the main character Tori to God who is loving and holds out redemption and salvation. Anyone who enjoys Christian historical romance would love this book.

Tori is a broken woman with an abused past. She doesn’t trust men and relies on her grit and determination to keep her cousin Opal and herself safe as they flee their home in Pennsylvania for the wilderness of the Wyoming Territory. She is feisty but gets in trouble because of her impulsiveness. Ezra is a kind, loyal, thoughtful, honorable, faithful man operating a stage coach stop and telegraph office. His patience and commitment to see both women safely employed are commendable.

I can’t wait to read the next book in the series, Mountain Christmas Romance, to see what becomes of Opal.

I was given a copy of this book by author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

About the Book

Title: 21 Days of Love

Compiled by: Kathy Ide

Genre: Non-fiction, Devotional

Release Date: January 1, 2016

Love can be found in many treasured relationships: boyfriend-girlfriend, husband-wife, parent-child … with a special friend, teacher, or pet … in the kindness of a stranger. We even have a national holiday to celebrate love.

The greatest love ever known is God’s abundant love for us, His children. And He often demonstrates that perfect love through imperfect people.

These stories represent all kinds of love. Woven through each story is the sustaining hand of our loving heavenly Father. On Valentine’s Day—and every day—whether your life is chocolates and flowers or loneliness and pain … let these stories fill your heart with hope, peace, and most important, love.

About the Author

Compiler and editor KATHY IDE has been a published author since 1989. She has written fiction and nonfiction books and is the author of Proofreading Secrets of Best-Selling Authors. She has ghostwritten ten nonfiction books and a series of five novels. She also writes columns of writing and editing tips for blogs and newsletters. Kathy makes her home in Orange County, California.

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This book is an interesting compilation of 21 very short stories focused on different aspects of love. Each fictional story is written by a different author and contains life applications at the end of each chapter along with Scripture. I’ve never read a complication of stories or devotionals presented quite this way before and it was refreshing to read this book. The topics and life applications range from providing comfort to others with Christ’s love to having hope for the future despite disappointments. These applications are infused with God’s promises and his unfailing and unwavering character.

I received a copy of this book from the authors/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

Guest Post from Kathy Ide

Kick off the new year with love!

21 Days of Love: Stories that Celebrate Treasured Relationships, book 3 in the Fiction Lover’s Devotional series, contains short fiction stories about all kinds of love. Boyfriend-girlfriend. Husband-wife. Parent-child. Teacher-student. Even love for pets and showing love to strangers. Since the greatest love ever known is God’s abundant love for us, His children, the sustaining hand of our loving heavenly Father is woven throughout. Each story is written by a different author and is followed by a brief Life Application in which the author shares how the fictional story relates to our day-to-day lives.

21 Days of Love has chapters written by well-known, best-selling novelists, including Susan May Warren, Sherry Kyle, Renae Brumbaugh, and New York Times best-selling author Cindy Woodsmall. There are also stories by writers you may not have heard of. At the end of each chapter is an author bio that gives some background information about the author. So if you really like a story you read, you can find out what else that author has written. You may just find some new names to add to your favorites list.

And if you haven’t read much Christian fiction, this devotional will give you a small taste of several different authors and genres, without having to commit to reading an entire novel. You might just discover that you actually love Christian fiction!

21 Days of Love, a finalist in the 2017 Selah awards, makes a perfect Valentine’s Day gift for friends and loved ones.

About the Book

She’s got her heart set on becoming a missionary. He’s determined to recruit her for the job.

But is it possible to fall in love with someone you’ve never even met?

Susannah’s convinced that God has called her to the mission field. That’s why she’s serving him with single-minded focus in Orchard Grove, waiting for the day when she can leave her small town to take the gospel to the nations.

Is falling in love with her missionary recruiter part of God’s plan for her life or a distraction from the real goal?

Scott loves his life. Traveling the globe, offering spiritual support to missionaries around the world offers enough excitement that the loneliness hardly ever gets to him …

Until he receives an application from a young girl with a heart for the mission field as large as his own, a young girl he finds himself falling for even before they get the chance to meet face-to-face.

Unfortunately, a promise Susannah made to her family may tear her and Scott even farther apart than the miles that separate them.

Book one in an inspirational sweet romance series by award-winning Christian author Alana Terry, who has won awards from Women of Faith, The Book Club Network, Grace Awards, and several others, What Dreams May Come is based off of the author’s own experiences falling in love with (and eventually marrying) her missionary recruiter.

About the Author

Alana is a pastor’s wife, homeschooling mom, self-diagnosed chicken lady, and Christian suspense author. Her novels have won awards from Women of Faith, Book Club Network, Grace Awards, Readers’ Favorite, and more. Alana’s passion for social justice, human rights, and religious freedom shines through her writing, and her books are known for raising tough questions without preaching. She and her family live in rural Alaska where the northern lights in the winter and midnight sun in the summer make hauling water, surviving the annual mosquito apocalypse, and cleaning goat stalls in negative forty degrees worth every second.

Guest Review from Mindy Houng

This is the first book written by Alana Terry that I have read and it’s so appropriate that I started reading it on Valentine’s Day and the story is a retelling of her love story with her husband! The book is definitely geared towards the Christian reader and has wonderfully encouraging Scripture as well as prayers liberally sprinkled throughout the story. The writing focuses on the heartache of two devoted Christians who fall in love but are kept apart due to life circumstances. The main characters’ doubts, cries of grief and sorrow for love perceived to be lost, struggles to understand God’s bigger plan, and striving for peace and contentment even when submerged in confusion are all so real and touchable.

Susannah is barely an adult at almost twenty but has a heart for international missions and for reaching the lost. She is gentle, loving, diligent, and patient. Scott is in his thirties, already an experienced world traveler as a support personnel to the international missionaries. He’s “a missionary to the missionaries.” He is devoted, kind, thoughtful and loving. The book starts out with the first few chapters recounting their “courtship” via phone calls and emails and dwells a bit in the past to catch the reader up to what’s actually happened to keep the two apart. Then the book switches back and forth from Susannah’s world in tiny town of Orchard Grove in Washington and Scott’s world in Massachusetts. I really enjoyed their attending Urbana Missionary Conference together since I have wonderful memories of that conference when I attended.

The book was enjoyable and made me reflect upon my own thought processes and prayers during difficult situations that broke my heart.

I received a copy of the book from the author/publisher via Celebrate Lit Tour. I was not required to write a favorable review. All comments and opinions are solely my own.

Guest Post from Alana Terry

The cat’s out of the bag! Back in 2016, I wrote What Dreams May Come, a novel that was based on the way my husband and I fell in love … fourteen months before we ever met! It wasn’t until just before Christmas that I told Scott the romance novel I’d been writing was actually our true-to-life love story, and he was even more surprised than I hoped he’d be! Watch the video to see his reaction.